Rollercoaster Weekend

My mom and I left for Spokane on Friday to attend the America's Kids Run Expo. It was QUITE a weekend and I'm happy to report that we survived it! If I could stand to sit at my computer to chronicle the rollercoaster of a weekend that it TRULY was, I would; however, these cheeks of mine have done enough sitting for one weekend, so I'll keep it short(ish)!

The HIGHS:

- our ROCKIN' new banner for booths at Expos

- making it to the Spokane Convention Center without getting lost!

- the conveniently located Kinko's that rescued us from our "missing price list emergency"

- meeting girls of ALL ages who love to run (that's what my book is all about, afterall!)

- the girl who saw my book and said with tears in her eyes to her mom, "That's ME!"

- meeting dads, brothers, grandfathers, and sons that support their girls and women who love to run

- selling some books!

- purchasing some new books for my own kiddos

- making some great professional connections (helpful to US and helpful to the folks we met!)

- the hotel where we collapsed at the end of a long day (it was a SUITE with separate bedrooms, a kitchenette and a living room!)

- the Cup of Noodles available in above mentioned suite that really hit the spot (at 9:30PM - that's nearly 7 hours after eating lunch, folks!)

- the chicken salad my dad packed for us in the cooler that I ate after inhaling the said Cup o' Noodles

- inhaling breakfast at a Perkins (I haven't eaten at one since college, I think)

- the sun was shining

- the friendly, helpful nature of 95% of the people we encountered in Spokane

- the amazingly diverse landscape of the state of Washington

- some great brainstorming on the ride home

- getting home to a family who missed us

The PLATEAUS that are almost (though not QUITE) funny now that they're hindsight:

- missing the actual Kids Run because the map we had was incomplete and ridiculously unhelpful (is that a word? If not, it SHOULD be!)

- my mom telling me (in her most-helpful and encouraging voice) "Oh look! Either of these nameless roads can get us there!" to wich I replied, "Awesome, Nameless roads. What else?" then cried tears of frustration/laughter/disbelief at reality (we had been in the car for 2 hours and hadn't acually made it to a destination that should have been a 30 minute trip!)

- discovering that the mountain pass that leads home was closed for avalanche control, trying to find a plausible work-around, and then discovering that the roads opened literally MINUTES after we found out about the road closure (but 30 minutes after what turned out to be unnecessary panicking!)

And, though I'm EXHUASTED, I did get away for a run this morning and added more proof to my husband's theory that I can run faster than I think I can. I'm pretty sure I ran two 9 minute miles. I'll have to readjust my breathing patterns if I'm going to go that fast for any greater distance, though.

OK . . . I have to add JUST ONE MORE THING . . . I'm so very honored to be listed as the "Runner of the Week" over on Faithful Soles. Never in a MILLION YEARS did I ever think I'd earn THAT title. If all my PE teachers could just see me now! :) Be sure to visit the site to see all the great resources Robert Key has over there and see if there might be a new running blogger you've never met - he has an entire global database of people like us!

Have a great week!